]]>9408Release: WordsFlow 2.13.1 for InDesign CS5–CC2018http://emsoftware.com/2018/09/13/release-wordsflow-2-13-1-for-indesign-cs5-cc2018/
Thu, 13 Sep 2018 17:02:21 +0000http://emsoftware.com/?p=9382This patch improves stability when working with bookmarks and endnotes, fixes problems with Place with WordsFlow…, and addresses an issue with commas in exported style names.

Changes

Works around an InDesign problem where an update of a story containing bookmarks or hyperlinks with destinations back to the story itself could cause the application to shut down.

Fixes a problem where putting a story with endnotes into an existing frame using a loaded place gun could cause the application to shut down.

Fixes a problem introduced in the 2.13 release that disabled the Place with WordsFlow… dialog’s Show Import Options checkbox. (macOS only)

Fixes a problem introduced in the 2.13 release that was disabling Place with WordsFlow… with some tools and selections. The Place with WordsFlow… menu is once again available whenever File > Place… is available.

Fixes a problem where exported commas in style names were being treated by Microsoft Word as alias separators. Style names are now exported with a substituted comma character to avoid this behavior.

Changes

Adds Link to Original Document in the text and layout context menus, where it can be used to create an impromptu WordsFlow link between an existing story and an external document without changing the story. This can be handy if you need to repair an existing link or if you’ve placed a file without a link, have made subsequent edits, and now need to pull in changes from the original file with a WordsFlow Update. Be careful, though, to only link to the original, base file in order to avoid undesirable content and styling changes when you next update the link.

Adds scripting support for Link to Original Document with a new linkTo() method (“link to” in AppleScript) on the story object, to link a story directly with a file (without actually placing that file).

linkTo(file, showing options)

Adds a separator between the Place with WordsFlow… and Place without WordsFlow… menu entries so that it’s not as easy to accidentally click on the wrong one.

Gives a warning when a Relink to a different (text) file format could unintentionally affect the story’s applied styling.

Fixes a long-standing issue where Import Options weren’t being saved on an exported story, which was leading to problems when updating the new link (such as duplicated images).

Fixes a problem where an Export with WordsFlow could add unwanted styles to the document.

Adds full scripting support for Place with WordsFlow with a new placeWithWordsFlow() method (“place with WordsFlow” in AppleScript) on the document object, to place one or more files like the Place with WordsFlow… menu,

Changes

Prevents InDesign from showing a Missing Plug-ins alert after a document in which all WordsFlow-placed links have been removed or unlinked is saved and then opened where the WordsFlow plug-in isn’t installed.

Exports the right-to-left paragraph attribute to Word.

Skips the tracking of deleted images, which can cause InDesign to crash in some situations.

Fixes a problem where an expired WordsFlow trial could block XML imports.

Fixes a problem where the product’s backflow module wasn’t being found on some non-US systems. (macOS only)

Fixes some problems that could, in rare situations, cause updates to fail with an “unhandled exception (AttributeError)” message.

Changes

Works around a bug in InDesign’s Excel import filter that causes a Relink to fail if the Cell Range or Sheet associated with the current link isn’t valid for the file to which the table is being relinked. This fix allows Relink to both update the table (and retain its changes) and alter the link’s Import Options (select Show Import Options in the Relink dialog and then select the new sheet and/or cell range).

Fixes a rare situation that could prevent link updates from working.

Fixes a problem where updating an Excel link using a non-Pro license could cause InDesign to shut down.

]]>9302InDesign Rejects Custom Excel Cell Rangeshttp://emsoftware.com/2018/05/21/indesign-rejects-custom-excel-cell-ranges/
Tue, 22 May 2018 00:28:07 +0000http://emsoftware.com/?p=9208We’ve recently discovered that InDesign’s Excel import filter has a weird, long-standing bug where it won’t accept a custom Cell Range if the sheet contains exactly 26 columns (or a multiple of 26 columns). While it’s annoying if you run into this problem while Placing a sheet with WordsFlow, it’s downright insidious if you run into it while updating a linked sheet.

To see the problem, create a new document in any version of InDesign (CS5–CC 2018), bring up the Place dialog, check Show Import Options, and then select an Excel file (xlsx only) containing a sheet with exactly 26 columns (such that the last column is Z). Once the Import Options dialog is shown, select the sheet, enter a valid, custom sub-Cell Range, and then click OK. You’ll see this error message:

At this point, the error can be worked around by simply adding (or removing) a column. If you add a column, it doesn’t need to be used in what’s imported, it just needs to hold a value (be non-empty) in the Excel sheet. Alternatively, the file can be down-saved to an old-style Excel Workbook (xls format), if that works better for you.

Now, imagine that you have a linked Excel sheet that was placed with WordsFlow and a custom Cell Range.

You select the link, click Edit Original, and work on the Excel file a bit and maybe add a few columns such that the sheet now happens to contain exactly 26 columns. You save, close Excel, and pop back into InDesign, and then find yourself presented with

when InDesign attempts to auto-Update the edited link. And that’s where this bug will get you, because that generic message will leave you not knowing why the link update failed.

As dire as the message sounds, don’t panic; the link is still valid and the fix is the same as above. Just re-edit the linked sheet, add (or remove) a single column, save it, close Excel, and then give the link update another try.

For Excel files with multiple sheets, WordsFlow displays the link’s selected Sheet and Cell Range in the Links panel’s Link Info section. (If they’re not already showing, select Panel Options… in the Links panel’s popup menu and then check both Sheet and Cell Range in the Show in Link Info column.)

Changes

Removes a spurious conflict alert about a “competing insertion” that would sometimes appear at the beginning of stories after updating them.

Fixes a problem that would place a WordsFlow badge on the frame of a Table of Contents generated from a linked story.

Preserves any changes made to the story’s or table’s Import Options (Sheet, Cell Range, etc.) by a Relink.

Fixes a problem with Hyperlink Destinations moving around during updates and generating warnings.

Prevents InDesign from copying a story’s link along with its content if only a portion of the story (one frame of many, for example) is copied or duplicated. For a WordsFlow link to be copied with the content, the entire story must be copied or duplicated.

]]>9226Release: WordsFlow 2.11 for InDesign CS5–CC2018http://emsoftware.com/2018/02/27/release-wordsflow-2-11-for-indesign-cs5-cc2018/
Tue, 27 Feb 2018 05:57:17 +0000http://emsoftware.com/?p=9168This release adds full support for CC 2018’s endnotes and includes a number of other fairly significant fixes and improvements.

Changes

Adds support for CC 2018’s new endnotes feature when placing, exporting, and updating Word documents with endnotes. Known issues are:

For story-positioned endnotes, CC 2018.0 will add a new Endnotes page with each Update or Relink. This is an InDesign limitation that we expect to be resolved with Adobe’s next update.

InDesign does not currently autoflow (add more than one page for) endnotes.

Adds Open Linked Document and Edit Linked Document to the various WordsFlow menus. Open Linked Document opens the linked file in its default application, and that’s it. It’s useful when you want to look at the Word or Excel file but don’t want Edit Original‘s automatic Link Update when you return to InDesign. Edit Linked Document, like Edit Original, both opens the linked file and then updates the story when InDesign regains focus, and is included for convenience.

Improves progress bar movement and enables Cancel for long operations.

Lets Update Linked Document be shown as an undoable step in the Edit menu.

Accepts all changes on a story as part of an Export with WordsFlow. This improves consistency by putting the story in the same state it would be in if it had just been placed with WordsFlow.

Greatly improves the efficiency of updates with very large tables. For example, one sample document we have with a 2000-row table (70 pages!) that used to take 12 hours to update now takes under 3 minutes.